Chandigarh, Sep 20 (IANS): Azad Samaj Party leader and parliamentarian Chandrashekhar Azad on Friday condemned the abusive comment made against Congress MP Kumari Selja and called upon the people of Haryana to be cautious of the party.

“Using abusive language against a woman leader is wrong and the silence of the Congress high command is a serious matter,” he told the media.

Chandrashekhar said the party “which cannot give respect to a senior leader of our society, how will that Congress care for the common people of our society?”

He said Kumari Selja has been strengthening the Congress for a long time but “today she is being forced to sit at home due to repeated insults.”

He was campaigning in favour of the JJP-Azad Samaj Party (ASP) candidate Digvijay Singh Chautala in Dabwali and alliance-supported Independent candidate Ranjit Singh in Rania, both seats in Sirsa district.

Chandrashekhar said due to discriminatory policies of the Congress, late former Deputy Prime Minister Chaudhary Devi Lal and late BSP founder Kanshi Ram had to form their own party in the interest of the poor, farmers and the working class because they understood that “we will have to fight for our honour and respect ourselves.”

He said that the people of Haryana would have to understand the power of their vote and show the mirror to national parties.

Chandrashekhar said there was a time when the people of Haryana used to decide who will sit on the chair of Delhi, but the “irony is that today some people sitting in Delhi are deciding about Haryana.”

He said only a regional party can understand the welfare of its region well.

“For the progress of Haryana, we have formed an alliance with the JJP and have created a strong alternative for the benefit of the people here,” he said.

Appealing for votes, he said to bring the “reins of Haryana back to Haryana, everyone should make the JJP-ASP candidates victorious with a huge number of votes”.

He said the JJP-ASP had fielded only those candidates who were poor or farmers or were from the working class so that grassroots leaders can increase the respect of their area.

Eyeing Dalit voters who constitute 21 per cent of the state’s population, out of the total 90 seats, the JJP, an offshoot of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), will contest 70 seats while the ASP will field candidates on the remaining 20 seats.

Interestingly, the INLD has already stitched an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) to woo the Dalits, with leaders of both parties agreeing to project INLD legislator Abhay Singh Chautala as the chief ministerial face.

As per the alliance, the INLD will contest 53 seats, while the BSP will field candidates on 37 seats.

At the launch of the JJP-ASP alliance, both Dushyant Chautala and Chandrashekhar, who are both 36-years-old, promised to fight for the rights and welfare of the farmers and to form a “government of the youth”.

The BJP, which is in power in the state is eyeing a third-consecutive term in the polls scheduled on October 5. Results will be declared on October 8.